Duana Names: When it’s just too (Twi-)Hard

When we first found out we were pregnant in 2008, we decided that we both liked the idea of keeping our family members’ names going. So when we found out that our first was a girl, I gave hubby two choices, all after our beloved grandmothers, he chose Isabella (I like traditional names, I am guilty). All fine and dandy… we love it, we switch between Izzie, Bella, and Isabella.

At that point, I was apparently living under a rock, because after I announced the name on a social media site, I got a few “Twilight” comments, which I didn’t get. Then it happened, the twihards emerged and took over the world – we remain oblivious and unharmed.

Fast forward to today, we will be having a boy this spring. We want to keep going with the family names, so our options for boy names are Tadeusz (my Polish G-father) or Cullen (his Irish G-father, which would match the Irish last name well). I hope you see where I am going with this? To top off this frenzy, I would like to add that my own father’s name, who passed a few years ago, is Edward. I told my very good friend that we’re thinking about Cullen and she calmly informed me that I might as well put up a poster of Twilight and get a tattoo as I will forever be haunted by the crazies.

My oblivious husband is rooting for Cullen and claims he doesn’t care about the twihard madness, I frankly don’t either, but really, how is this going to look? I don’t want anyone trying to commit me as it will look like I am naming my children after a movie/book.
Help me sort this out.

Thanks,

A

___

Oh hi, baby Tad! How are you? Your full name is Tadeusz, eh? Love that. Smart name. Really good choice made by your parents, that’s for damn sure. Your sister’s name is Isabella, huh? Yeah, that doesn’t make me think of anything in particular at all.

Hey A, you guys didn’t do anything wrong by being accidentally caught in a maelstrom, but you are one hundred percent doing the right thing by not making it bigger. Once is a coincidence, but twice is parents really trying to be cute, or playing into the joke, and it’s not worth it, because there will always be that thought when you think of the two names together. For you, that is. If you were truly, absolutely ignorant of the connection, then I’d say go to it. It’s like how everyone has this weird thing about how Damian is demonic, or something. I don’t know the reference, so I don’t care, the name is fair game.

But since you do know, do yourself a favour, and don’t. Put Cullen as the middle name, to honor both, and don’t worry about the first not “matching” the last. My bigger concern would be that Tadeusz is more foreign than Isabella, but if I’m right and you’re going to call him Tad or Thad sometimes, I think it’ll work really well.

I am, however, looking forward to hearing the story of how you explained to your parents exactly how you came to this conclusion.

Also, your Twilight poster is in the mail – laminated so you don’t damage it when you make out with it.